


A Night in to Remember

by whythefujamievenonthis



Category: Sex Education (TV)
Genre: M/M, Other, Sex Education
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22790065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whythefujamievenonthis/pseuds/whythefujamievenonthis
Summary: heyI love maureenSo I wanted to write something that let maureen have a bit of happinessand it's an exploration of a bit of Adam and Michael's relationship as father and son, and the impact of how unhealthy it isEdit: 100 kudos!! Thank you so so much :)
Relationships: Eric Effiong/Adam Groff
Comments: 5
Kudos: 120





	A Night in to Remember

Tensions were high in the Groff household.

Understandably.

For a long while, all that had been heard between Maureen's polite attempts at conversation was the sound of cutlery hitting the plates and people quietly eating. The clock patiently tick-tocking on the wall as they all impatiently waited for the meal to be over. Well, that's what Michael was thinking anyway. 

He'd been disgraced from Mooredale Highschool ever since the commotion he'd caused during Romeo and Juliet a month prior. He still hadn't been invited back to work. If anything, he seemed to have the worser reputation out of him and his son Adam. Adam. What he did during that show... He could've made a fool of himself, a fool of him too, in front of the majority of the school and their parents.

\- - -

Adam was sat there, in a neat white button up shirt and trousers, his hair had gotten slightly longer in the time he and Eric had been seeing each other. He was uncomfortable, not with Eric being there, but with Eric having to deal with the awkward silence. Adam had already met Eric's parents, and all his sisters; they were all nice, and the meal had been filled with conversation and colourfullness. It had been a nice evening. But here Eric was, stuck in a dreary house in absolute quiet. 

He really hated the fact his dad had bothered to show up. It would've been easier if it was just his mum. She was nice. She was good at conversation.  
The only reason she wasn't talking now was because the man she was in the process of divorcing was sat opposite her.

The food was nice though.

\- - -

Maureen was trying. That was more than Eric could say Michael was trying to do. He felt like a jigsaw piece that had wound up in the completely wrong puzzle, sticking out like a sore thumb in his paint splatter patterned jacket and electric blue eyeliner. Adam looked handsome, dressed up and making an effort. His cologne smelled nice. 

The food wasnt half bad, not a mark on his mothers cooking but that was bias, and more seasoning, Maureen was a lovely woman and was clearly being as welcoming as possible given the circumstances. Eric couldn't have asked for more from her.

\- - -

It was quite a pickle of a problem. Sat there with her now ex-husband, and her son with his new boyfriend. Had she expected Adam to be attracted to men? No. Had it gone down well when she phoned to tell his sister (at Adam's request)? Not particularly. Was Michael's company making things worse? Most certainly. But Eric seemed a nice boy, and Adam seemed to make a real effort with him, he seemed more... expressive.

"So, Eric," Maureen began, this had to be her her fourth, no fifth attempt at conversation now, "how did you two meet exactly?" 

"Ah, I, uh..." Eric babbled. What was he supposed to say? Your son bullied me for 4 years, got his shit together and it went from there. Yeah, that didn't sound like it'd go down to well.

"Our son tormented Mr Effiong for years." 

Michael had spoken. Wasn't exactly positive. Wasn't exactly wrong either.

"Oh, I- is this true, Adam?" Maureen asked.

Adam cleared his throat, looking at Eric for confirmation before replying, trying to make as little eye contact with his father as possible, "Yeah, mum, I wasn't that nice." 

"Bit of an understatement, don't you think?" Michael retorted, stabbing into his Sunday roast as he spoke.

"Alright, Dad, I know-"

"I don't think your mother knows though, does she? How you intimidated him, stole from him, bullied him for the majority of your secondary school years, and the majority of your first year of college-"

"Michael I think that's enough." Maureen stated.

"We're patching things up, we're honestly-" Eric began, trying to get a word in edgeways, only to be cut off by Michael.

"Infact the only reason you stopped is because we sent you to military school, where for a brief moment you gave us the hope you could be disciplined. Gave us the hope you had some ability to do as your told and be a productive member of society. Only to find drugs in your bunk..."

"I told you they were put there-"

"Ah yes, I do hate when that happens, it's such an inconvenience."

"Michael behave yourself." Maureen implored, briefly glancing at Eric apologetically. 

"And then failing to do something as simple as lock a door, causing a personal friend of mine to lose profit in his store."

"That was an accident Dad-"

"You seem to have a lot of accidents, don't you, Adam? A lot of thing that just happen to go wrong that paint you in a bad light. A lot of misgivings out of your control." 

"Michael pack it in." Maureen threatened, blushing from embarrassment at the scene playing out at the dinner table.

"If I recall, now we're on that vein of thought, misgivings, there was a delightful pet name you _gave_ young Eric."

"Dad, please..." Adam stated.

"If I _recall_ , you did nothing about it. You sent Adam away for cheating a test, not for how he treated me."

Silence spread across the table like wildfire from Eric's sudden comment. Michael was a tad stunned, but soon gathered his thoughts, "Maybe if my son had turned out half decent, he wouldn't have bullied you for so long-"

"Maybe if you'd been a half decent dad and husband, nobody in our family would be in the shit heap we are right now."

A second wave of quiet fell upon the table. And this time it stayed for a good while.

Adam hadnt yelled it, at all, he actually sounded rather calm, as if he'd been wanting to say that for a good while. Long enough so that he didnt have to think of that response at all, he just said it as though he hadn't realise he'd spoken aloud in the first place. He quickly caught on to his own words, and there was no point in backing down now.

"You take that back." Michael said in a low, dangerous tone.

"Why should I? You raised a mistake, you're one too."

"Chose your words carefully-" 

"I'm just annoyed I'd tried to plead with mum to at least let you sleep in the house again. To let you back."

Michael Groff was silent.

"What a waste of fucking time that was." Adam continued. He took a breath and looked around, realising that'd all been said out loud, Eric looked stunned, his Mum looked uncomfortable, Michael looked... he actually couldn't read Michael, hell, he could barely look at him.

"Am I alright to go upstairs for a bit?" Adam said, rising to leave.

"Of course dear, perhaps take Eric with you? I just need a word with your father." 

Eric gave a silent nod and rose out of his chair, leaving the dining room and heading upstairs with Adam. The occasional squeak of the staircase was the only noise in that house, it sounded like even the clock had stopped ticking. If they could've seen the look on Maureen's face, Adam probably would've stopped dead in his tracks; she had a face of thunder as the pair of them went to his room. The door clicked shut quietly, and Adam sat himself down on the bed, silent. The muffled sound of conversation could be heard from downstairs.

Eric stood there in the middle of the room, not quite how he imagined ending up in his boyfriend's room for the first time. God that was weird. Adam with the title of being his boyfriend, and the whole situation from dinner... he didn't hate the boyfriend thing though.

"Adam I- I'm... it happens, you know. It's just one of them-"

"I'm really sorry." Adam said quietly

"No, don't be." Eric replied, making his way over to sit next to Adam on the bed, "Nothing there was your fault."

"But it was." Adam said, still quiet.

This confused Eric a bit, "I don't get what you mean?" 

"He wasn't wrong. About me. About what I did to you. He wasn't wrong." 

"Adam..."

"Nothing he said downstairs apart from why I got kicked out of military school was wrong. What I did... You didnt deserve that."

Eric couln't argue with that. What was he gonna say? Was he gonna lie and just pretend that he'd never been bullied in the first place? No. There was no point in lying. He could only watch as Adam sat up off the bed, his backing facing Eric as he walked over and faced his wardrobe. It felt childish, like he got sent to sit on the naughty stair or something. Maybe that's what he had to do when he was little, just stand there and look at his reflection in his wardrobes mirror. He wasn't look at himself though, not this time at least.

"Adam we've talked about this-"

"All I do is hurt people and make them feel bad. Even downstairs what I said to him... no matter what he does to me, he's still my dad. All I'm good at is hurting people." Adam stated, still a bit quiet, but then his voice went even quiet, as though he didn't want anyone to hear, "What if I'm just like him?" 

That's where Eric had to draw the line.

"No, no. Don't." He said firmly as he got up from the bed, gently spinning Adam around to face him. Tears were brimming in his eyes, but he wasn't ready to let them fall in front of Eric.

The sound of Maureen yelling "Get out of my house! _Now_!" cut through the atmosphere. The muffled conversation from downstairs was officially over. Neither of them acknowledged it in words, neither of them said a word till a loud slam of the front door could be heard from downstairs. 

"You are not him." Eric said, cupping Adam's face in his hands. 

"How?" Adam replied as he placed his hand on one of Eric's arms, "I don't know how." He sounded frustrated, he couldn't wrap his head around the idea that he wasn't like the man that raised him. 

Eric paused for a split moment before replying, "Because you feel things, Adam. At the scrapyard when you smash shit up, at that party when you said you were scared, back at the show on stage, even now. You feel things."

Adam didn't reply to this, besides letting a couple of the tears building up fall down his face. Eric couldn't stop his heart squeezing a bit at the sight.

"And you're allowed to cry!" Eric continued, a warm smile on his face as he wiped the salty tears off Adam's face, "Though maybe not on your shirt cause it looks expensive."

Adam couldn't help but laugh through his crying at that last remark, it was stupid, but it made him feel better. For a second things felt lighter, and he realised Eric was right. He couldn't be like his Dad. Then all of a sudden this intense wash of relief fell over him, like a wave, and it felt so good to feel it. He gave into himself again and tightly wrapped his arms around Eric in a hug, crying a little harder - but not out of sadness.

"I'm not him." Adam stated, not letting go from the hug quite yet. He really didn't get to hug people a lot.

"I know you're not." Eric replied, a smile on his face as he stayed there in the moment. Adam wasn't perfect, and they both knew that, but he knew that he was trying hard to fix himself, and be better. It was showing, slowly, but he was getting there. The pair just stayed like that for a while, stood in the middle of his room just hugging. Nothing needed to be said. It was the easiest silence either of them had ever had.

"Should we head down to your Mum? Your Dad is long gone, I don't think she'll want to be alone after that." Eric said softly, still hugging Adam. The pair pulled away from.each other so Adam had the opportunity to dry his face.

"Yeah, yeah, that's good. We'll head down now." 

"And you can get changed?"

"Hm?"

"You seem uncomfortable in the shirt."

"Last time I wore it was for prom. I didn't have the best time."

This made Eric smile, "Right, I'll head down, I'll see you once you're changed."

"You don't have to go." Adam replied as he undid the first two buttons his shirt.

"I- hm, it's probably best I do. Next time though."

"Next time? Don't think theres gonna be a next time, this meal went to shit." Adam replied, smiling lightheartedly as he continued to take off the button-up.

Eirc was a bit stunned at Adam's non-chalance, and whilst Maureen was here too?

"It's not exactly the best time is it?"

"Best time? It's eight thirty, I'm just changing my shirt like you said to. What you talking about 'best time'?"

"Nevermind!" Eric replied as he promptly left the room. He most definitely turned that into something it really, really wasn't. He cooled off for a second before heading down stairs where he found Maureen in the kitchen, she was taking something out of the fridge that was on a platter. 

"Mrs. Groff?" Eric stated, letting her know he was there.

"Oh?" She released as she turned around, a tad surprised, "Call me Maureen sweetheart, I'm not Mrs. Groff anymore!" 

"Ah, sorry, Maureen."

"No harm done. Though I wish I could say the same about Michael's behaviour tonight." She replied as she began to unwrap the cling film from around the platter; she'd baked a cake, specially for the evening.

"No, don't worry about it."

"How's Adam?" 

"Getting changed. Shirt wasn't comfortable."

"It was a first, seeing him want to dress up like that, the only reason we got him in a suit for prom was because we put him in one of Michael's." Maureen smiled to herself as she took the cling film off the cake she'd taken from the fridge, "I was so scared he'd be like his father. His sister was a bit, growing up."

"Why were you scared?"

"In all the time I knew Michael and raised Adam, I can probably count on both hands the times I saw them each really smile. As a child Adam tried so hard to meet Michael's expectations, as he grew up I think he realised those expectation where impossibly high. They were for me. The difference with Adam is that he never went back to smiling." She smiled a little as she spoke, grabbing a knife from the draw to cut the cake with as she did so.

Eric stayed quiet. What was taking Adam so long? 

"He smiles so genuinely with you, Adam. This evening alone: at the front door when you arrived, when you complimented my cooking. He's smiled at you as though theres nothing else happening in the world." 

Eric didnt know what to say, he was happy to hear it, but it was a tad embarrassing.

"I want to thank you, whatever you've done, you've given me the Adam I want him to be."

"Well he's lucky to have a mum like you. I know he loves you a lot more than he says, he really does."

This stopped Maureen in her tracks, she was mid slice too, she looked surprised, and for a second perhaps even doubtful - but that initial reaction soon melted in a warm smile, her eyes shining, "You really are a lovely boy."

At this point Adam made his que to come downstairs, he was wearing a t-shirt, a nice one though, plain black with a little logo on it that Eric couldn't make out. He seemed more or less himself now, minus the oversized jacket he always wore outside.

"Feeling better love?" Maureen asked as she finished cutting the first slice, and promptly playing it up and handing it to Eric. Eric said thank you as Adam made his way over to his mum.

"What sort of cake is it?" 

"Victoria sponge, I'm afraid I can't make anything fancier. Theres mango somewhere though, that I can put with some ice cream if the cake is a no-go."

She was sweetly interrupted by Adam giving her a hug, a short one; but it was a warm and said a lot of what he wasn't quite ready to put into words yet. 

"Cake's good." Adam said as he let go from the hug.

She looked up at him for a few seconds, all bleary eyed, a smile on her face (Eric couldn't help but notice the resemblance when they smiled), she cleared her throat a little before speaking, "Yes, I'm glad you think so." 

With that, the rest of the evening was speant at the dining table; eating cake and listening to the radio that Maureen had brought in from the kitchen. For the first time in years that dining room was filled with happy voices of laughing and rucus and all the happy exclaims you could expect to hear from a trio of smiling cake eaters. They spoke about everything and anything, Eric managed to vow to be Maureen's personal stylist, they talked about Adam wanting to be a dog trainer, how Maureen wanted to try tap dancing before her next birthday. Silly things, things that didnt really mean a lot in the long run. But it was the type of conversation that had never been held in the Groff household, but it was being had in Maureen's home, in her dining room, with her son and his boyfriend.

She couldnt ask for anything more than that. And neither could they.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are always welcome! so is consteuctive criticism :)
> 
> hope you enjoyed!


End file.
